Affiliation:
1. Department of Psychology University of Wisconsin‐Madison Madison Wisconsin USA
2. Department of Psychology Princeton University Princeton New Jersey USA
3. Department of Educational Psychology University of Wisconsin‐Madison Madison Wisconsin USA
4. Human Development and Family Studies Department University of Wisconsin‐Madison Madison Wisconsin USA
Abstract
AbstractThe present study tested the hypothesis that verbal labels support category induction by providing compact hypotheses. Ninety‐seven 4‐ to 6‐year‐old children (M = 63.2 months; 46 female, 51 male; 77% White, 8% more than one race, 4% Asian, and 3% Black; tested 2018) and 90 adults (M = 20.1 years; 70 female, 20 male) in the Midwestern United States learned novel categories with features that were easy (e.g., “red”) or difficult (e.g., “mauve”) to name. Adults (d = 1.06) and—to a lesser extent—children (d = 0.57; final training block) learned categories composed of more nameable features better. Children's knowledge of difficult‐to‐name color words predicted their learning for categories with difficult‐to‐name features. Rule‐based category learning may be supported by the emerging ability to form verbal hypotheses.
Funder
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
National Science Foundation
Subject
Developmental and Educational Psychology,Education,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health